Local Leads: 11/18/09

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The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:

NO TAKERS FOR $1.5 MILLION
Who wants $1.5 million? Apparently, no one. Any Loudoun business could have received the money thanks to the stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The money was to be used for "recovery zone area" bonds for businesses that want to expand or improve their facilities in areas of the county that have been hit especially hard during the recession, according to Danny Davis, senior project manager at Loudoun County's administration office. (Loudoun Times)

AGRICULTURAL DISASTER AREAS
Federal officials have named 10 Maryland counties agricultural disaster areas because of grain crop losses due to a fungal infestation blamed on last spring's heavy rains. State Agriculture Secretary Earl F. "Buddy" Hance said wheat and barley losses ranged from 30 percent to 55 percent. Farmers in the 10 designated primary counties, and in adjacent counties, are eligible to apply for assistance from the U.S. Farm Service Agency. The primary counties include Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, Queen Anne's, Talbot and Washington. Infestation by Fusarium head blight produces a toxic chemical called vomitoxin that makes the grain impossible to market or to use as feed. Central Maryland saw more than nine inches of surplus rain in April, May and June. (Baltimore Sun)
MORE JOBS TO LOUDOUNLoudoun County scored an economic development boost this week as Visa opened is new data processing center in Ashburn. According to Robyn Bailey, manager of business infrastructure for the county Economic Development Department, Visa had a ceremonial ribbon cutting yesterday for the new office building and data processing center, which will house operations being moved from Tyson's Corner. (Leesburg Today)

MARYLAND H1N1
Maryland has ordered 873,000 doses of swine flu vaccine from the federal government as the number of deaths associated with the illness reached 19, according to a Web site dedicated to tracking the state's response to the virus. The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is posting up-to-date information on the virus at http://dhmh.maryland.gov/swineflu/. (Gazette)

MAN CONVICTED FOR LEAVING CAT OUTSIDE

A man who kept his domesticated cat indoors for nine years before turning him loose outside a house he was having built was convicted Tuesday of four counts of animal cruelty in Frederick County District Court.Gregory Moser, 30, of Middletown , immediately appealed his convictions, which allows him to have his case heard again by a jury in Circuit Court. (Frederick News Post)

DUCT TAPE GOES A LONG WAY
When MollyBeth Rushfield told her third-grade students that duct tape could solve any problem, they decided her theory needed to be put to the test. Coincidentally, Rushfield and her 17 Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School students had a conundrum of their own that needed solving. Their classroom rug was too small for all of them to fit on, so the students proposed a solution: create a new one made of duct tape, that versatile, exceedingly durable, holds-everything-in-place favorite of everyone's toolbox. (Gazette)